Fate's Game
by gomenasai-for-everything
Summary: Roxas watches Luxord playing a game of futures with some of the Organization members. After the others are gone, Luxord explains the game to Roxas, and reads both of their fortunes as well, though Roxas can't quite accept that fate was never on the Organization's side.


Roxas remembered Axel telling him to never play cards with Luxord. It wasn't a clear memory; it had been early in his time in the castle, when everything was fuzzy. Still, it was unmistakably a memory, and he didn't think that Axel had mentioned any exceptions to that rule. Yet there Axel was, playing a card game with Luxord and a few others; was that the difference? That he wasn't playing with Luxord alone? It didn't seem to be helping much; Luxord still had the biggest pile of munny in front of him. None of the others really seemed to mind. Roxas guessed they were used to losing to him.

Honestly, it didn't look like that much fun, but he moved to sit closer to them and watch anyway. Axel moved over a little; it was a tight fit, but he managed to squeeze in beside him, peeking at his cards. They didn't mean anything to him, really, but Axel let him look for a while as if he could actually help. Larxene rolled her eyes, and Axel grinned at her, like that would do anything to make her less angry. Luxord cleared his throat, gesturing, and everyone showed their cards. Luxord had two that matched two others in the line of cards at the middle of the table, and everyone but Xigbar ended up giving him the rest of the munny they had.

"I think I'm gonna hold onto the rest of this, gambler. Your game," Xigbar grunted, and Luxord laughed.

"Alas. Always a shame when the game ends, hm? Shall we play another? No betting this time; there isn't really even a winner." Roxas didn't think he'd ever seen Demyx's eyes go so wide; it was almost kind of funny. Axel just snorted, crossing his arms and leaning back to stretch. Roxas side ached where the bone of Axel's hip dug into it, and the elbow that ended up in his ribs not long after wasn't much better. Oddly, he'd grown sort of accustomed to that, though; Axel couldn't really help it, after all, and he was pretty sure that part of being friends was accepting the parts about someone you didn't like much with the parts that you did.

"Since when do you play games with no winners, Luxord?" Axel asked, and Luxord chuckled. His eyes looked strangely bright, and he pawed through his pockets for a new deck of cards. They looked older than the others, and the front of every card had an ornate picture. At first glance, he couldn't even see any numbers on them.

"Ah, but isn't life itself such a game?" No one answered. Luxord sighed. "In any case, I learned this particular game in Port Royal from a rather pleasant old crone. It's telling fortunes, you see, one of the ways those with hearts do it, though more often than not it's a clever scam. Perhaps, though, with a little luck, we'll have better results here, should you all wish to play." He didn't look at Roxas, so when the others nodded, though they didn't look particularly excited, Roxas did nothing. "Wonderful! Xigbar, being second in command, I suppose it's only fair that you go first, hm?" He shuffled the deck, periodically twisting it so some were upside-down, then spread them in front of Xigbar. Xigbar drew confidently, like he seemed to do everything, and showed it to Luxord.

Roxas leaned forward; it was a pretty enough card, he guessed, showing a woman in blue and white robes with a cross on her chest. She looked calm and kind; he'd had dreams about a girl who looked like that, but no matter what she'd looked like, they hadn't been… comforting dreams. Somehow, this woman didn't seem like the kind to offer comforting dreams either. There was a small two written in roman numerals above her head; Roxas wondered if Luxord was cheating again.

"Well? What's my future, then?" Luxord smirked, eyes brighter than before, and he _must_ have been cheating somehow, whether the game he was playing really had a winner or not. Roxas had never seen him look like that when he was playing fairly.

"To see that I'd need to do more than have you draw a single card, I'm afraid; no, this only tells the current state of things, with perhaps a few hints as to the future if the card remains the same. This one is the High Priestess, upright. You will follow your intuition, as you always do. Mystery will forever be your shield, but as ever, there are powers higher than your own." He spoke very lightly, more lightly than Roxas had heard him speak before, and Roxas remembered suddenly the gambler's dominion over time. Was he reading from the card somehow, or the real future? Maybe both? Or was it neither, and the game he played was just fooling everyone? Xigbar laughed; it sounded like the barking dog he'd heard once in Twilight Town, low and harsh, like his throat hurt.

"So, what, the superior's gonna kill me? Man, as if! I think your cards might be duds this time!" Luxord hummed, shoulders shifting a little.

"I suppose they could be. Still, just a bit of fun, right?" He was smiling; he'd never said the superior was the one with more power. Roxas frowned as Luxord turned to face Axel instead. "Would you like to draw, Axel?" Xigbar shook his head and left as Axel reached out and took a card of his own. His was easier for Roxas to see, but it didn't really seem to make much sense.

A woman in white with a weird symbol over her head stood beside a lion, her hands near its open mouth. Axel held the card upside-down, but Roxas could still see the eight printed clearly at the top. Luxord looked almost giddy as Axel passed it to him.

"Must be good! Am I gonna be some kind of lion-tamer soon?" Axel asked, grinning with all his teeth. Luxord's lips twitched.

"Strength, reversed. You're unsure about something, perhaps a number of things, and you will soon find yourself depending on others more than ever. Possibly you'll be more aggressive than is usual as well, though that, along with the lack of control over yourself, will surely be quite difficult for us to notice given your usual personality." Axel stiffened, grin fading into a frown and eyes narrowing a little. He was clenching his fists, and Larxene laughed a little. She mocked him, but Roxas wasn't totally sure Axel even heard, at least not the first insults. Suddenly, though, he was grinning again, and laughing, even if it sounded a little different from his usual laugh. Roxas wasn't sure if Luxord just didn't notice that the card had bothered Axel, or if he just didn't care.

"Funny. Should've figured you were doing this to tease us, Luxord, but hey, I guess you need to have your fun too. Anyway, Larxene, you should be careful; if you make fun of me too much he'll probably give you a worse one. I've got an early mission tomorrow, though; see ya at the Clock Tower, right, Roxas?" It was a nice thought; it'd been a while since Roxas had been able to go, but tomorrow, he only had one mission, and he could probably get it out of the way quickly. He smiled, and it felt real to him even if he knew it couldn't be. Axel mussed his hair; he didn't mind it as much as usual, but he played at being annoyed just so Axel would laugh again, more like usual, before he left the room.

Demyx didn't reach for his card as eagerly as Roxas would've expected; he looked almost frightened, actually. Maybe he thought he'd get something bad. Roxas leaned over a little, trying to see what his card looked like, but all he managed to see was a flash of bright color against a dark background. He would've been willing to bet Luxord all the munny in his bag that there was a nine on it, though.

"The hermit, upright; quite unsurprising. You're committed to the path you've chosen, and certain that it's right; you've found your own truth and your own meaning. You understand others; most won't understand you." Roxas almost wanted to laugh at that, at least a little; Demyx was… different, definitely. He was lazy, irreverent, sometimes a little rude, and Roxas was pretty sure he was among the most who wouldn't ever understand him, but he did like being around him even if he talked about how they really did have hearts a lot. It was… nice, in a way, hearing him sound so certain that it was true even if it wasn't. He hoped no one ever made him doubt that; he wouldn't be Demyx if he didn't believe. Demyx smiled; he looked more serious than usual, and he nodded lightly.

"Yeah, alright! That's pretty cool, Luxord," he said, laughing quietly as he rocked to his feet. "I should hit the hay, though. Recon tomorrow, you know? It's a pain, but I don't wanna get yelled at for missing something again." Larxene crossed her arms tightly, glaring at the deck, then at Demyx.

"What's the point? You'll miss _something_ even if you've slept for a month." As much as Larxene seemed to have something against everyone, it was worse with Demyx; maybe it was because he always seemed so happy. He frowned, exaggerated, hands on his hips. Larxene got bored when he didn't react and Roxas was almost positive that he knew that as clearly as Larxene knew that he didn't really take what she said to heart more often than not.

"Hey, hey, there's no need to be so mean!" Larxene sneered at him, and Roxas thought of siblings even if he didn't precisely know why. It was a funny feeling; he wondered where he'd even learned the word.

"Your turn, love. Will you take a card?" Luxord asked, and Roxas remembered how confused he'd been the first time he called someone "love." He knew, at least distantly, that it was an important thing, an important feeling, which someone wasn't supposed to say unless they really meant it. Apparently it could be a universal nickname like it was for Luxord too, or at least that was how Axel had described it. Larxene huffed and Demyx left while she was distracted by her card. Once again, Roxas couldn't really see it, beyond that it was another person and he looked upside-down.

"Well?" Luxord smiled.

"The hanged man, upright. Someone's been planning something, hm? Planning, and sacrificing. Already stuck in the plans you've made and unable to do anything but look around at how your life has changed, though I suppose you've been doing that for some time already. You'll try to hold onto your control even when you have none; a martyr for a cause that you cannot be certain is worthy." Her face twisted; Roxas had never seen her look so deathly, truly enraged. Luxord didn't seem scared, though.

"You just can't figure out when to stop playing games, can you?" she snarled, but Luxord didn't say a word. She clenched her fists and ground her teeth; Roxas knew that it only took her half a breath to summon her weapons, and after that, if her opponent didn't fight back quickly, she could end them in one swipe of a knife across their neck. She was strong; he'd never even seen Luxord summon his weapon. Larxene didn't attack, though. She just turned and strode away, coat fluttering and hair bouncing, leaving nothing behind her but a low, frustrated noise.

"It seems to be just you and I now, hm, Roxas? Shall I assume Axel informed you not to play games with me?" Roxas felt himself flush, so hotly that it almost hurt. Luxord laughed, but it sounded kind. "Don't worry; it's rather good advice, when it comes to most games, and I assure you that I make plenty of munny from everyone else not sensible enough to heed it. This particular game, however… well, you've seen it played already. It isn't as if you'll lose anything by simply drawing a card." Roxas wanted to ask how it was done, whether it was just the cards or if Luxord could really see the future. He wanted to ask why Larxene hadn't attacked. He wanted to know why all the futures he'd hinted at seemed somehow doomed.

"What about your fortune? Why don't you read your own?" He smiled, wan and gentle; this was the first time Roxas had ever looked at him and his first thought hadn't been "distant."

"One can't draw a card from their own hand. How about this: you let me read your fortune, and I'll let you hold the deck for me. Perhaps I'll even answer a few questions; you look rather like you're bursting to ask them." Roxas glanced around to see if Axel was somehow back, but the Grey Area was empty except for them.

"Okay," he said, nodding carefully, and Luxord fanned the cards out a little more. He reached forward and drew one slowly; he didn't feel particularly drawn to it, really, but when he flipped it over, the thirteen above the armored skeleton on horseback was unmistakable. It didn't look like a good card, but Roxas gave it to Luxord anyway.

"Death, upright. This is a rather funny card, you know; so many others seem harmless and hide wicked things. This one is the opposite, as it implies only change. Sometimes, that change is an ending, yes, but it can be a beginning too, or perhaps it can be both as could be the case for you. Things will change for you, more than they already have; I only hope your card doesn't reverse and you are ready to face it." He sounded sincere, but Roxas didn't know if he could trust that. They were nobodies, right? Sounding sincere didn't really mean anything. Or maybe Demyx was right and it did; he couldn't tell. How did _anyone_ really tell when they had a heart? Could they just… _feel_ it? If something was there, he'd _have_ to feel it, right? He shook his head, and Luxord passed him the cards. "Shuffle them well for me, as you saw me do at the start. Ask what you want to ask while you work."

"You have power over time, right? Are you… are you really using the cards, or are you just _seeing_ what you're saying." Luxord chuckled, obviously amused, and shrugged.

"Perhaps a bit of both, I suppose, but no man can see every future no matter his hold on time. I see… probabilities. Things that could happen, not things that will; I know what is most likely, but luck is fickle and fate can be fought. It's a gamble whether I try to change anything or not; sometimes, every possibility I see ends the same way. Periodically, the event still manages to happen differently. I don't think that's so this time; fate has set his course and luck will have to work very hard if she's to change it." Roxas frowned, shuffling the cards a little harder.

"So the cards don't really mean anything? You were just saying what you saw and calling it the cards? Why doesn't the Superior use what you see, anyway?" Luxord leaned back, watching the blank, flat gray ceiling like it held secrets only he could see. For all Roxas knew, maybe it did.

"No, I said only what the cards mean. As I said, for most regular humans this does not work well, beyond a few coincidences; my suspicion was right, however. It takes only a little push of luck for everyone to draw the right card. As for the Superior… it's the king's gamble to listen to his pawns or ignore them, is it not? Have you finished shuffling the cards?" Roxas held them out, fanned wide, and Luxord smiled as he drew one and glanced at it before he showed it to him. It was an upside down wheel, covered in symbols he didn't recognize and surrounded by golden things with wings.

"What does it mean?" he asked, quiet, and Luxord laughed, very quiet and mostly to himself.

"The wheel of fortune, reversed; it means that my luck will soon run out, and without luck, fate will always win the hand." He sounded like he didn't care and Roxas wanted to scream until he told him what he'd seen, what was going to happen, but he had a feeling that Luxord didn't say anything he didn't want to say.

"Can I ask one more question?" He nodded. "If the rest of the Organization played this game, do you know what cards they'd draw too?"

"I do, but I cannot simply tell you. Let them know about tonight; if they want their fortunes read, they'll come to me. Telling you would rig the game, I'm afraid, and no matter what is said of me, I always play fairly. I'll offer you this, though; there is a card in the major arcana that comes before the first, card zero, the fool. He is not present here, but the major arcana is his journey; you and the fool are bound inexorably in every future I see, and soon the fourteenth card, temperance reversed, imbalance, will link you further. Do with that what you will, Roxas." Ever since joining the Organization, confusion was Roxas' normal; he was used to it, had accepted it, but this… he couldn't help but feel like somehow Luxord had told him everything without really saying anything at all. It wasn't a good feeling, and no matter what Luxord had said, he couldn't see how death was a good card.

"Wait! Tell me what you mean, Luxord," he said, but the gambler only laughed, louder now and less true.

"I'm sorry, Roxas, but our game has come to an end, and time is not on our side. I've accepted that; I think it'd be best if you hurried on and accepted it as well. Ah, and come find me if you'd ever like a poker game, love. I'd be glad to separate you from your munny." With that, he gathered his cards and left Roxas alone in the Grey Area, unable to shake the feeling that the game they'd played had a winner after all, and he hadn't even been present to play. Fate obviously didn't have the same problems Luxord did with not playing fair.


End file.
